Job Description

Technical Director @Annenberg Media

When people picture a newsroom, they often envision anchors, reporters, and perhaps the cameraman. However, just like any other part of a whole, a newscast requires the collaboration of various experts to create a complete show. One of the many crucial roles in the newsroom is the Technical Director, who oversees the control room and acts as the liaison between the technical staff and the production crew.

The Technical Director undertakes a range of duties. It starts off with familiarizing yourself with the ins and outs of the newsroom, including the different media personnel and their roles, the structure of a newscast, and the different jargons used upon production.

With these tasks in mind, the Technical Director ultimately ensures that all technical components of the newscast is flawless and ready for on-air broadcasting, to avoid any bloopers.

A Technical Director's role breaks down into three main functions: 

• Virtuoso
• Composed
• Quick-witted

Virtuoso

As the Technical Director, you should be a master in handling all the technical equipment in the newsroom studio. Your foremost task is programming all on-air segments of the newscast using state-of-the-art programs like Ross Inception and Overdrive. Apart from programming, you should also understand how other equipment, such as the cameras, teleprompter, and Overdrive system box operates, in order to understand which cues and commands to give out to the rest of the control room personnel. Every show imposes a time constraint, leaving no room for being baffled by new information. You should be the studio virtuoso who can direct and offer assistance at any point in time of the show to ensure no mistakes are made. Ultimately, a successful technical production of the newscast lies in your hands.

 

Composed

Working in the control room as Technical Director is an exceptionally hectic and fast-paced process. The newsroom is always bustling with students preparing for the 6P.M. broadcast. There will be multiple orders handed out to multiple individuals, and absorbing the multitude of information amidst the chaotic background is comparable to that of a scene in Hell's Kitchen when every step needs to be handled with care, precision, and speed. As a Technical Director, you cannot be rattled up in such scenarios, and even when you come across a setback that interrupts your workflow, it is imperative that you remain composed. Handling high-pressure environments while keeping up with the pace of the newsroom personnel will qualify you for the Technical Director role.

 

Quick-witted

One of the most untold and undervalued responsibilities of the Technical Director at Annenberg Media is communication. Inside the studio, you will always keep your headset on to communicate with anchors, production staff, and control room members through an in-ear device. Similar to the anchors on-camera, your mic is always hot, meaning that before and during the newscast, everyone involved in the production can, and will hear your commands. In such high-pressure situations, the Director also has the responsibility to maintain an amicable atmosphere and communicate in a witty manner with coworkers. Delivering amusable jokes to loosen up the anchors before a nerve-wracking show, reassuring the control room crew that the high-pressure situation can also be enjoyable is also an important task to conduct before every show, almost like a ritual. In order to do so, you need to bring forth your quick-wittedness and be ready to execute the wondrous teamwork.

Readability Statistics
Passive Sentences: 0 
Flesch Reading Ease: 36.7 
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 13.9